Adult Education – February

For the modern reader and interpreter of the Bible, there is a tension between the Bible as a modern book and the Bible as an ancient set of texts. That which was written long ago is claimed to have validity for the present. But how and in what sense is it valid for the present? What is the relationship between those texts produced centuries ago and the book so cleverly bound and mass produced that is set before the interpreter today? In my world. it is not uncommon to hear someone say, “Let’s just read the Bible literally. Let’s forget about all this interpretation stuff and just read the Bible for what it says.” The impulse for this can be appreciated. Serious interpretation of the Bible takes a lot of effort and sustained study, and sometimes all of this effort in the end only seems to work against certain cherished and long held religious beliefs. Many people want the Bible to sustain them. They don’t want to be confronted by strange and new readings of it. And still others are opposed to the critical study of the Bible because they think God and God’s word are beyond human understanding. They can only be understood by the power of the Holy Spirit and not by human reason standing alone. Moreover, digging into the scriptures seems to make human beings the final arbiter of God’s word instead of God. These concerns are real, and the forces that motivate them should be understood. In these presentations, we shall explore some of the implications of how we read the Bible, why we read it, and when or for what purposes we might read it.

Outline

I.  Ancient Text, Modern Book

II. Truth Fact, and Myth

III. The Ethics of Reading Troubling Biblical Texts

IV. Blindness and Vision: Commemorating the ‘Conversion’ of St Paul

V. Mary’s Song

VI “Our Father in Heaven”

VII. In Memory of Him: Mark’s Narrative of Remembrance of Jesus